As I mentioned in my last post, I ordered 300g of North Ronaldsay wool roving from Hearthside Fibers, and since it arrived on Monday, I was anxious to get some spun. This rare, conservation breed of sheep eats mostly seaweed, so I was curious to see how this diet would affect the wool.
Because North Ronaldsay sheep are double coated, you'll notice the dark hairs that are mixed in with the light gray fiber. It does affect the "prickly" factor of the yarn, but not so much that I see it being a problem in a woven scarf.
The fiber spun up like a dream with only a small amount of VM to pick out as I drafted. From what I understand, the fiber is also processed on the island of North Ronaldsay, so it's a small mill with minimal processing compared to larger mills. This fiber is carded rather than combed, so it does required a little more control when spinning if you're going for a lighter weight yarn.
Here is the first 100g grams spun into a 2-ply sport weight/DK yarn (approx. 257 yards).
See a short film about this breed of sheep here.
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